SANITARY SEWER

SANITARY SEWER. In 1914 residents of Dubuque living west of Grandview and south of Delhi were so insistent in having a sewer system that the city council passed a resolution instructing City Engineer E. C. Blake to draw up plans. It was thought at the time that the residents lived in an area that could not be linked to the city's sewer system. The only means of handling sewage was pumping it through a "circuitous" route to CATFISH CREEK and through private property outside the city limits. (1) Completed in 1930 the West Dubuque sewer system cost just short of $81,000 and served all the residents with the exception of Fremont Avenue. (2)

In 1931 Dr. W. J. Connell, the city health director, reported that 90% of all dwelling in the city were connected to the sanitary sewer system. (3)

In October 2013 the Water and Resource Recovery Center, Dubuque's newly completed wastewater treatment plant was one of a few worldwide to use an innovative heating and cooling system, was only months away from being self-sustaining energy-wise, and regularly produced large amounts of agriculturally beneficial "biosolids."

Constructed on the same site as the previous plant, the Center was a $65 million project, the largest capital investment in the history of the city. The facility in 2013 daily processed about 10 million gallons of wastewater from 23,000 customers and deposited cleaned liquid into the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

Solid wastes were processed through anerobic digestion rather than incineration. This produced methane and biosolids. While initially more expensive, anerobic digestion had the lowest annual operation and maintenance costs. Ultraviolet light rather than harmful chemicals was used to sterilize the water. The light did not kill bacteria, but made it unable to reproduce. Instead of using groundwater for heating and cooling, the clean effluent was used within the facility.

The project was funded by the Iowa Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan program. Sanitary sewer fees were used to repay the loan.

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Source:

1. Fyten, David and Knee, Bill. "Dubuque is Forerunner on Sewage Treatment on Upper Mississippi River," Telegraph Herald, Nov. 15, 1974, p. 1. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EQdRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G78MAAAAIBAJ&pg=6845,4066080&dq=sewer+system+dubuque&hl=en

1. "New Sewer Plan for West Dubuque," Telegraph Herald, Nov. 20, 1914, p. 5. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_Q9eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5F8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=5953,4552442&dq=sewer+system+dubuque&hl=en

2. "Ten City Streets Paved During the Year," Telegraph Herald and Times Journal, Jan. 1, 1931, p. 9. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XdFFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cr0MAAAAIBAJ&pg=4129,3856014&dq=sewer+system+dubuque&hl=en

3. "Dubuque Proves Health City in Which to Live," Telegraph Herald, Apr. 30, 1931, p. 10. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Xb5FAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h70MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2426,4330301&dq=sewer+system+dubuque&hl=en

Jacobson, Ben. "Royal Flushes? City Will Put Dubuquers' Waste to Good Use," Telegraph Herald Oct. 4, 2013